Chris Paul

Info:

Ht: 6' 0" Wt: 175 Age: 23

Born: 5/6/1985, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

College: Wake Forest

Drafted: 2005 - Rd 1 (4th overall)

by the New Orleans Hornets

Cons:

His team.I'm just saying at this current time and the future if Chris Paul gets hurt they might as well go home. Sure they have Tyson Chandler and a few other alright players but who can really get it done other then him.

Pros:

To many to name. The kid is a beast. He is going out every night just breaking record after record. You got to like this guy. I just hope he does not let it go to his head like Kobe and some other so called super stars.On 11/12/08 he had a season-high 30 points and 13 assists to extend his record streak of 20-point, 10-assist games to seven. He is just amazing all the way around. Whats so funny is that he looks so small out there but he plays big. They keep saying he plays like Isiah Thomas, thats so wrong Isiah Thomas was a dirty player that has now grown into a dirty man and coach. Well fired coach. CP3 is nothing like him and lets pray he never becomes like him. Chris Paul seems to be a well brought up young man that I think has a great future in the NBA and beyound. Lets just pray he stays healthy and out of trouble.

Christmas NBA

The NBA schedule for the 2008-2009 season has been released, and the primary thing that should be noticed, is that there will be 5 games played on December 25th this year. In a stark change from past years, the National Basketball Association is pulling out all the stops with a full line-up of games to celebrate Christmas.

Immediately brought to mind, is that the holiday has been for years considered a football day, where you could normally see a Detroit Lions or Dallas Cowboys game while the Turkey was being cooked. It is pretty obvious that the NBA wants to do battle in both the ratings and with sports fans as they have loaded up the Christmas Day line-up with a veritable smorgasbord of offerings. A day that was once dominated by football watching could soon become a split of the ratings bonanza on a day where typical programming is relegated to either only sporting events, news, re-hashed Christmas specials, or It's a Wonderful Life.

According to the NBA schedule, the games will get started at 12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) with the Orlando Magic hosting the New Orleans Hornets. Olympic team members Dwight Howard (ORL) and Chris Paul (NO) get to face off in what will be a great match-up. ABC will be hosting a double-header over on their network, starting with the San Antonio Spurs playing the Phoenix Suns. This will pit Tim Duncan (SA) against Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash (PHO) in what will probably be a playoff preview. That game is followed on ABC by a re-match of this years NBA Finals, with the Boston Celtics traveling to Los Angeles to play the Lakers.
Finally, over on TNT, Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards will travel to play the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, followed by the Dallas Mavericks traveling to Portland to play the Trailblazers. Certainly this is going to be a day packed with games, and with many channels to choose from, it is going to be a big day in sports. Not only that, but the schedule makers were nice enough to give fans the superstar treatment, with many of the best players in the game all playing on the same day. This is a good move by the NBA, and maybe a sign that the league really wants to head in the right direction after some off-season hiccups. One thing is for sure though, this Christmas we are all getting basketball as a present.

Sports Draft

The National Football League draft marks the beginning of the draft
season and rightly so. It is one of the two best professional sports
drafts of the four major professional American sports. Like the NBA,
NFL draftees are well known from their collegiate careers and often
make an immediate impact at the professional level for the teams that
draft them. Similarly, both sports drafts are large events televised
by ESPN. However, the methodology of the top two professional sports
drafts differs.

While the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City
Chiefs performed a coin toss to determine the order of the 2008 NFL
Draft's third, fourth and fifth choices, the NBA consistently
undergoes a lottery system each year there is an NBA draft. In the
National Football League, tiebreakers usually differentiate a lot of
teams in the draft order, but the National Basketball Association
always gambles to determine the number one pick in the NBA draft.

Granted, the NBA draft lottery is weighted in accordance with teams'
records, but such weighting was not always the case. When the lottery
was established in 1985, the seven worst teams in the league were all
given an equal opportunity to win the first pick in the draft.
However, when the worst team in the league, the Golden State Warriors,
was awarded the seventh pick, changes to the draft lottery ensued.
Weighting of lottery pick selections were not instituted until 1990
and in 1994 were tweaked to the specifications in place for the 2008
NBA draft.

As of 1994, the worst team in the league has a 25% chance of winning
the first overall pick in the NBA draft lottery. Subsequently worse
teams have decreasing percentage chances of garnering the first
overall pick in the NBA draft including 19.9% (2nd), 15.6% (3rd),
11.9% (4th), 8.8% (5th) and so on, down to a 0.5% chance of garnering
the first selection for the 14th worst team, according to record.
For as much flak as the NBA may receive for a lottery to determine the
order of picks, there has, historically, also been concern regarding
the amount of weighting. Some people think the exaggerated weighting
encourages poor teams to throw games toward the end of the season - in
order to improve their chances of acquiring a higher draft pick.

However, the NHL utilizes a similar weighting methodology for the
National Hockey League draft lottery. Like the NBA, the NHL's worst
team has a 25% chance of acquiring the number one overall draft
selection of the NHL draft. In contrast to the NFL and NBA, which have
a relatively narrow funnel of sources for their players, the NHL
drafts players from the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League,
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, United States High Schools and
Colleges, as well as internationally.

While Major League Baseball has a narrow funnel of sources for the
prospects for its' draft - high school, college and amateur baseball
teams - MLB draft picks do not typically progress straight to the
major leagues, unlike football, basketball and hockey. In addition to
most MLB draft picks entering the minor leagues before advancing to
the major leagues, many draft picks never step onto a Major League
Baseball field, as a player.

The process MLB draft picks must endure to make it to the professional
level undoubtedly hurts the importance, validity and popularity of the
Major League Baseball draft. Of course, another hindrance to the
importance of the MLB draft is the fact that it is held during the
baseball season - in early June. Professional football, hockey and
basketball hold drafts in preparation for upcoming seasons (or at
least after the prior season) giving fans a taste of the season to
come - filling them with anticipation that is not possible in a
baseball draft that occurs during the regular baseball season.

Furthermore, the MLB draft was not aired on television until 2007, at
which time only the first round was shown on ESPN2, although the rest
was viewable via the internet. The NFL and NBA drafts are the most
reminiscent of monumental events. In addition to being chock full of
players that will make an immediate impact for their professional
sports teams, NFL and NBA draftees are more widely recognized due to
the dearth of players plucked from college football and basketball,
which are both nationally aired on television.
College football bowl games and the NCAA March Madness undoubtedly
boost the popularity of the NFL and NBA drafts. Meanwhile, the NHL and
MLB do not have the luxury of such prominent counterparts. Until that
time, they will not rank as highly in importance as football and
basketball. Hockey, fortunately, allows for draft players to make
impacts at the professional level in a timely manner, allowing the
hockey draft added credibility over the baseball draft, but it still
remains a distant draft to the likes of the top two contenders.

Then there's baseball, which should consistently bring up the rear as
it is not helped by the timing of the draft or length of time it takes
for draftees to make an impact on the professional level. For such
reasons, the baseball draft has rendered itself almost irrelevant. MLB
has much to learn from its' other major sports counterparts.

The professional sports draft season for the big four sports looks like this:

*National Football League (NFL) - Record Based Without Lottery - End of April

*Major League Baseball (MLB) - Record Based Without Lottery - Early June

*National Hockey League (NHL) - Weighted Lottery for Poor Teams - Late June

*National Basketball Association (NBA) - Weighted Lottery for Poor
Teams - End of June

And the Major American Sports Draft Rankings:

1 - NFL; 2 - NBA; 3 - NHL; 4 - MLB

NBA Dance Vs NFL Dance

At halftime of any NBA or NFL sports game, you will see the talented and beautiful girls that make up the team dance team. They dance in front of thousands of fans, performing dance routines to perfection. But there are also happens to many differences between NBA and NFL Dance teams. For those who are interested in audition for a professional dance team or those who are just plan curious, here is my guide to NBA and NFL Dance teams

Differences :

Because NBA dance teams perform in Arenas and NFL cheerleaders are perform on football teams, might possibly be the reason for the differences in uniforms, dance styles etc.

Dance Style

One of the major differences between the an NFL and a NBA dance team is the dance style used. NFL cheerleaders typically have kick lines and use pom poms during their dance routine. Unlike traditional cheerleading, NFL cheerleaders typically don't perform stunts. NBA dance teams usually have a dance style that is typically jazz and hip hop based.

Uniforms

NFL cheerleaders usually wear a uniform that consist of some type of shorts with boots. While with NBA dance teams, you will might see jazz pants being worn.

Performance Groups

NFL dance teams usually have show groups which consist of members from the dance team, that travel and perform for military troops, different organizations.

Similarities

The main similarities between NFL and NBA dance teams is that they both actively work with the community. Many professional dance teams have hold camps for young girls, have signings, help at different charity drives etc.

Calendars

Both dance teams put out annual swimsuit calendars for the fans. These calendars usually are taken during the summer months at different tropical locations.

When try to decide which league is right for you, first look at your favorite sports team. If you have a favorite sports team, then why not audition and cheer on the team! If you don't have a particular favorite team, then examine the dance style, look etc and see if that is something that works with you.
As a dancer, I have always enjoyed watching professional dance teams perform. The level of skill and talent that is involved in performances is amazing.

NFL and NBA dance teams are add that level of excitement and energy to their sports teams. Professional dancers work extremely hard at what they do , and they dance to whole new level.